Metra

The Jan. 19 article “ Ticket app could be in Metra's future ” presents a strong case for the smartphone application, currently used in Boston, to be adopted in Chicago as well. This solution best serves the needs of Metra's current riders and offers a scalable and convenient fare system for years to come. Metra riders would be well-served by the convenience and flexibility this application offers. More importantly, the hard-working conductors would save time and frustration by no longer having to deal...

We keep wondering when Democrats in the Illinois House - forlorn little mushrooms on whom Speaker Michael Madigan regularly dumps his putrid embarrassments - will decide they've had enough of self-serving-antics-by-Mike. Maybe never. Maybe they're breathlessly seduced by the campaign money he gives to them and the cozy district lines he bestows on them. Or maybe they draw perverse pride from hobnobbing with clout, even if that means marching in subservient humiliation as...

I became a regular commuter on the Union Pacific North Line 32 years ago, riding downtown to and from the Central Street station in Evanston. Throughout those years, the Metra commuter trains have been largely a joy to ride (though we can all remember exceptions), especially compared with the strains of commuting in other major metropolitan areas, and I would sing the joys of commuting by train in Chicago to friends and acquaintances far and wide. But, alas, no more. Now we have been visited by...

- A secret report put together by the legislature's watchdog in the wake of last summer's Metra scandal offers new insight into how Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan navigates the intersection of public business and ward-style patronage through his Southwest Side office and Illinois Capitol suite. The analysis by then-Inspector General Thomas Homer - based on interviews with Madigan's political allies, government officials and the speaker himself - presents those methods in an...

Nobody told Phil Pagano how to run a railroad. That was a mistake. Trains were on time, the budget was in the black … and his bosses on the Metra board of trustees had no clue that the CEO was helping himself to hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra compensation. The board that hired Pagano's successor was more hands-on, to put it mildly. Alex Clifford's resistance to political meddling in personnel and contract decisions cost him his job last summer; his separation agreement cost taxpayers...

As Metra searches for a way to offer wireless Internet access for its increasingly tech-savvy riders, a new study concludes the amenity could help soothe customers irritated by late trains and boost ridership. Laptops, tablets and other devices that access Wi-Fi are being used by more Metra riders than ever - more than half the passengers - and the ever-more-sophisticated gear is changing how people commute, according to a study released Wednesday by DePaul University's Chaddick Institute...

It's annoying enough when a publicly held corporation essentially bribes a CEO to leave quietly. It's completely unacceptable when Metra, essentially a state agency, does the same. This is nothing less than theft from the public. They should never pay more than they legally owe. I agree with State Rep. Jack Franks that hearings must be held, and that neither taxpayers nor customers should foot the bill for this. However, he errs in saying that Metra should pay for this "internally.

Metra trains on the BNSF line were running normally again through Hinsdale about 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon after an accident involving a freight train fouled up commutes for some riders earlier in the day. A freight train Saturday morning struck a timber hanging from an overhead bridge in the west suburb, causing delays of up to 90 minute for Metra riders on the BNSF line and some headaches for drivers in the area, officials said. But by 3 p.m. the area near Oak...

In my opinion, this entire Metra fiasco would not have happened if Illinois had a real attorney general instead of a political figurehead whose real job seems to be protecting her family! If Lisa Madigan really cared about how she “ could best serve the people of Illinois ,” she would resign and stay out of the political arena. Nepotism has never and will never work for the people. It ought to be illegal. - Marilyn Fawell, Lombard

Alcohol is getting the boot from Thursday's World Cup viewing party in Chicago. Metra is banning alcohol from all its trains, and organizers are prohibiting it from their get-together in Grant Park. Beer was sold at the first viewing party, and was planned for this one. But after conferring with city and Chicago Park District officials, U.S. Soccer officials said there will be no beer this time. “We didn't think it was necessary, given that...

We've grown weary of hearing Metra officials go on and on about how conscientiously they've responded to a disaster of their own making. Yes, they promptly released a special investigator's report detailing the misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars by former executive director Phil Pagano. But let's not forget that Metra's mess, which had been building for more than a decade, was brought to the board's attention by a reporter, Greg Hinz of Crain's Chicago Business.

Warnings of a traffic nightmare proved overstated Saturday, just as they did last weekend, as bridge demolition work that shut down part of the Kennedy Expressway progressed. The demolition of the 55-year-old westbound Ontario Street Bridge moved along as officials had hoped Saturday, said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jae Miller, though backups could still occur on Sunday as drivers face the closures from Grand Avenue to Ogden Avenue and the detour at Ohio Street. ...

In regards to "Durbin seeks air quality probe of city rail stations" (Nov. 8): if the soot in the Metra is what Durbin is concerned about, he's missing the point. If it costs train companies more than twice as much to buy a new energy-efficient, environmentally friendly train than to slap duct tape on the old ones, then why isn't he calling for legislation that would encourage such activity? Promoting public health, preserving the environment, and stimulating growth in the American job sector...

As if riders on Metra's BNSF Line didn't already know, they suffered through a dismal month of May, with 1 out of every 5 rush-hour trains running at least five minutes late, officials said Friday. The BNSF Line to Aurora - Metra's busiest with 67,400 passengers each weekday - was plagued by delays caused by track construction and freight train interference. Overall, trains on Metra's 11 lines ran on time about 94 percent of the time during rush hours in May, well below the 96.5 percent...

Metra apologized to customers today for two locomotive breakdowns that caused hundreds of passengers on the UP Northwest line to be stuck on board trains for up to three hours. The disruption Monday night stemmed from two separate mechanical issues, one on the 4:45 p.m. train to McHenry (No. 631) and the other involving the 5:33 p.m. train to Harvard (No. 647), Metra said. The two problems resulted in delays to about 20 trains. Train No. 631 broke down near Irving Park and...

A pedestrian was struck by a freight train in Lake Forest this evening, authorities said. The pedestrian was hit about 7:50 p.m. near Metra's Lake Forest Station, said Michael Gillis, a spokesman for Metra. The incident snarled traffic on the commuter railroad's Milwaukee District North Line and its North Central Service. Gillis didn't have information about the person who was hit or their condition. A Lake Forest dispatcher didn't make police or fire officials available...

Metra's chief officer went before state lawmakers promising that everything possible would be done to prevent a repeat of last month's service collapse and poor communication with riders. But Executive Director Don Orseno spent much of the next two hours defending Metra's performance rather than offering ideas to improve service. "There's a perception out there that Metra was not prepared, and I can assure you that was the furthest thing from the truth," Orseno told the Illinois...

Kennedy Expressway construction, which threatened nightmarish delays each weekend for the rest of the month, not only will wrap up earlier than planned this weekend but will be completed by June 23, officials said Saturday. Because of "the expedited pace in which the demolition work is proceeding," the project to remove the old Ontario Street bridge over the Kennedy Expressway will be completed by June 23, a week early, IDOT officials said in a Saturday evening news release. The...

Less than 24 hours into his acting chairmanship, Jack Partelow visited Metra headquarters Friday to meet with senior staffers and gauge the mood. Not surprisingly, he found an agency bruised by an ongoing political scandal that has prompted four Metra board resignations, two state ethics investigations and calls for major reforms. "Some people are kind of down because the place is being trashed in a way," Partelow said. "But there's an awful lot of good people there. ... We have to keep...

A boy from Chicago was electrocuted climbing on top of a train in a south suburban rail yard Sunday evening, authorities said. The boy, whose age was not immediately released, was one of two juveniles who entered a Metra rail yard in University Park just after 7 p.m., Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said. He suffered a fatal electric shock while climbing on top of a parked train, Gillis said. The boy was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Office of the Will...